Last Minute Preparations0

We all leave tomorrow on different flights from different places (Phoenix, San Francisco, San Antonio) and have been getting ready by reading up on Peru and contributing to a Google Doc about Peruvian history, medicine and healthcare, agriculture, family life and other topics that we will share before and during our trip. The plan is that each night, if we have energy, we will talk about the day, about our high points and concerns and plans for the next few days. We are very grateful to Edwar Escalante, Executive Director of Andes Libres (http://www.andeslibres.com/), who is coordinating our visit and local travel. What a fantastic help he has been in getting us ready to go. The planned itinerary for the first few days is as follows:

June 6, Thursday
Arrive in Cusco, bus and train to Machu Picchu arriving by mid-afternoon. Take a non-strenuous walk to the ruins since we will be at 9,000 ft altitude and probably be huffing and puffing. Stay the night in Aguas Calientes close to Machu Picchu. Hopefully acclimatize to the altitude.

June 7, Friday
Arise very early to see sunrise (hopefully no clouds) over Machu Picchu. Explore the site. Lunch close by. Catch train and bus back to Cusco late afternoon. Go back up to 11,500 ft altitude. Dinner, debrief and bed.

June 8 and 9, Saturday and Sunday
Take it easy getting used to altitude. Explore Cusco.

June 10, Monday
Travel to the farm to start teaching and making biochar for the fields. The farmers have been collecting agricultural waste for us. Gerry Polesky will teach two classes in the evening this week: Human Resource Management and Market Opportunity Analysis.

After that, as far as biochar, we play it by ear over the next week or two to do the best job we can in communicating biochar practice to the local farmers and demonstrating how to improve crop productivity. It will be interesting to see how close the above itinerary is to what we actually do. Plans can change and a sense of adventure and flexibility are always good things when traveling in the developing world.